Sports Criminals: 9 Tonya Harding

Sports Criminals: Tonya Harding

March 19, 2014

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If the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer are remembered for anything, surely it's the media frenzy that erupted over competing figure skaters Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan.
Harding's skating career was hitting its stride in the early '90s with the young athlete rocking triple axels at almost every event she competed in. Despite several record-breaking performances, Harding's competitive abilities began to decline in 1992 due to her asthma and her increasingly erratic behavior. It was not uncommon for Harding to show up late to championships or stop mid-skate to complain about her equipment to the judges. Meanwhile, Nancy Kerrigan was training hard to prepare for the '94 Olympics after a series of flawed skates had set her back.
Perhaps sensing her best days might be behind her, Harding abandoned any notion of fair play and took matters in to her own hands in a bid to stay on top. In January 1994, Harding conspired with her ex-husband and her bodyguard to take Nancy out of competition. They hired thug Shane Stant to attack Kerrigan after a practice skate. Although Stant did the job, he failed to break Kerrigan's leg. In the following seven weeks, Kerrigan healed up and went on to win silver in Lillehammer.
For her role in the underhanded attack, Harding was stripped of her previous titles, banned for life from competition and forced to pay fines and perform community service. Ironically, the scandal made figure skating a popular and lucrative event that Harding would forever miss out on.
Instead, she ended up releasing a sex tape and becoming a boxer for about 10 minutes — before disappearing into obscurity.